Murder of a Cat (2014): Actually, the real winners here are co-writers Christian Magalhaes and Robert Snow, whose well-loved spec script made the rounds in Hollywood and helped land them staff writing gigs on “New Girl.” At a moment when douchebag comedy is king, these guys serve up unapologetically dorky counterprogramming, where the main character is a thirtysomething virgin and the inspirations are mostly literary. The result plays like a classic Encyclopedia Brown case, if the boy detective were still sleuthing from the spare room of his mom’s house to this day.As the title suggests, the mystery begins with the death of Mouser, a contented housecat who’d lived well into the double digits. Cats die every day, but there’s something especially suspicious about Mouser’s demise, considering that this kitty’s corpse is found impaled by an arrow.

Directors: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson
Writers: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson
Stars: Caitlin Stasey, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Brooke Butler
A rebel girl signs up a group of cheerleaders to help her take down the captain...

Director:Fruit Chan
Stars:You-Nam Wong, Janice Man, Simon Yam
The Midnight After (2014): A night like any other in the streets of Hong Kong: in the midst of the tangle of night-owls, cars and vendors, a group of pa...